“Probably with both of us. But this agreement keeps HSO’s involvement minimal. It keeps me in charge. They could have moved in, tried to muscle away the whole shot. And while we were playing tug-of-war …” Her eyes went to the boards again.
He said nothing for a moment, only drank some coffee. Then frowned at the mug. “Why won’t you stock your regular in this thing? It’s not as if you don’t have an unlimited supply of bloody coffee. Word is you married me for it.”
And with that, she understood the crisis had been averted. “I don’t want to spoil my men.”
“You’d rather burn all our stomach linings away.”
“Cops’ guts are tougher than that.” She smiled. “Civilians’ may be more delicate.”
He stepped to her, flicked a finger down the shallow dent in her chin. “Then you’ll perfectly understand why I’ve ordered food in for the briefing.”
“You—”
“Have you eaten since breakfast? I thought not,” he said when she only frowned at him. “I’ll drink your deplorable cop coffee, you’ll eat my food. And we’ll get on.”
“We’ll get on if it’s pizza.”
“I know my cop.”
Yes, he did, she thought. “I talked to Mira.”
He took her hand now, held it.
“I don’t like the way you maneuvered me into it, even if you were right.”
He laughed at that, kissed the hand he held. “I love you, Eve. Every contrary inch.”
“I’m working it out, and I don’t want you to worry. I feel … lighter,” she decided. “I can’t talk about it now.”
“No need. Feeling lighter is enough.”
“I just want you to know, I’m getting a grip on it. I’ve got to put it away, get back to this.” She took a breath. “And I’m going to keep doing that. Putting it away, where it belongs, and getting on with who I am, what I am, what we are. You need to do the same.”
“I’m with you, Lieutenant.”
“Then I’ll bring Peabody back.” She reached for her comm just as the knock sounded on the door.
“That’s probably the food. I’ll take care of it.” Roarke walked to the door.
When it came to food, she thought, cops had noses like blood-hounds. She put her comm away, watched Peabody trot in behind the delivery team.
Then Jenkinson, Baxter, Reineke.
“Let them set it up, for Christ’s sake, before you swarm it like locusts. And leave some for the rest. Peabody.”
Looking mildly concerned she might qualify as “the rest,” and miss out, Peabody hurried over. “Most of us missed lunch.”
“I’m aware. We have an addition to the team,” Eve began, and laid it out.
Peabody’s face settled into stubborn lines that slid into a sulk. “I don’t like her.”
“You haven’t laid eyes on her.”
“I don’t care, and Teasdale’s a pussy name. A prissy pussy name.”
“Really? And Peabody’s a name that makes bad guys shiver in fear?”
“If they know what’s good for them. Besides, she’s HSO, and that makes her a prissy pussy in a bad black suit.”
Well, Eve thought, her partner had the suit right. “Deal with it, and her. Now grab a slice, then finish the board.”
She started to grab one herself but moved off when someone called her away. Instead, she found a reasonably quiet corner and began her run on Jeni Curve.
She saw Teasdale come in, take her time crossing the room. The HSO agent would have to weather the flat, suspicious looks.
“Agent Teasdale. You’re welcome to fight for a slice of the pie.”
“Thank you. I’ve eaten.”
“Suit yourself. Have a seat.”
When Whitney and Tibble came in, the noise level dropped by half.
“We’ll start in a few minutes, Chief, Commander. Most of the team didn’t manage lunch today.”
“I didn’t manage it myself,” Tibble told her. “It smells good.”
“Please, help yourselves.”
As they did just that, Eve turned and nearly walked into Teasdale. The woman moved like a cat, one with considerably less bulk than Galahad.
“Problem?” Eve asked her.
“No. I wondered if your AutoChef is stocked with tea, and if so, if I might impose.”
“There’s some herbal crap in there. Dr. Mira prefers it.”
“Doctor Charlotte Mira.” Interest kindled on Teasdale’s face. “I’ve studied much of her work. I’m looking forward to meeting her.”
“She’ll be here. And Teasdale?”
“Yes, Lieutenant.”
“If you’re working in the room, whatever’s in the AC’s up for grabs. You don’t have to ask.”
“Thank you.”
Teasdale moved away. The cops in the room evaded and avoided, aimed suspicious stares at her back.
“It seems I’m not the only one who has an issue with HSO.”
Roarke was another who moved like a cat. Eve merely shrugged. “They’ll suck it up.”
When Strong from Illegals stepped in, Eve crossed to her. “It’s good to see you, Detective.”
“I appreciate the assignment. I’ve been on light duty long enough.”
“You still favor the leg,” Eve pointed out.
“Some, but it holds.”
She’d lost weight as well since her injuries. A header down a glide while being chased by a fellow cop who planned to kill you tended to screw up the appetite. “Your new LT working out?”
“He’s good. Anything’s an improvement over Oberman, may she rot in her cage for the rest of her miserable life. But he’s good. Solid. The squad feels like a squad now that we swept the dirt out.”
“Grab some pizza and a chair. We’ll get started.”
She waited until she had the full team in the room, noted that Teasdale introduced herself to Mira, and took a seat beside the doctor. And that, as was his habit, Roarke opted to lean against the wall rather than sit.
“As you’ve been informed,” Eve began, “we have a consultant from HSO. Agent Teasdale will be given access to all case files, reports, and data, and will share any data she acquires during the course of her consult.
“Between twelve-fifty-five and thirteen hundred this afternoon the occupants of Cafe West were exposed to the same chemical substance identified at On the Rocks. The ME and lab have confirmed. There are forty-four additional dead. The smaller venue, and the quick response by patrol officers resulted in more survivors. Jenkinson, Reineke.”
“We talked to some survivors and wits on scene,” Jenkinson began. “The uniforms stunned anybody who advanced, and that kept them breathing. Most of them were dazed, not yet lucid. Some of the injuries were severe, and we lost a couple more as a result.”
“We talked to some of the injured at the hospital.” Reineke picked up the report. “The ones who were able to remember mentioned the onset of a headache followed by hallucinations, anger, fear. It’s a resplay, LT.”
“We got Lydia McMeara examined, as ordered,” Jenkinson told her. “She’s got mild inflammation, nose and throat. They ran her blood. She’s got some trace of the chemical. She was jittery, Dallas, but it’s hard to tell if that’s the chemical or shock. One of the women she was with, Brenda Deitz, is in the morgue. The other’s in the hospital, in critical.”
“We got two survivors …” Reineke gestured to the board, got Eve’s nod. He rose, walked to the board with IDs of survivors.
“Patricia Beckel and Zack Phips. Each stated they’d known someone who was killed yesterday. On further
